Last
year, four young fashion designers - Megan Stein, David Gil, Douglas
Reker and Carlos Santiago
- were invited to present their first collection on the Miami runway during
the Arts of Fashion Competition and Symposium presided by Veronique Branquinho.

Natallia
Pilipenka inspired by Frank Gehry Architecture

With
the support of YKK of America, we are pleased to announce that this year
three new young designers have just been selected to present their first
collection for Debut-Series 08 in San Francisco! Natallia Pilipenka, Stephanie
Otto and Akarasun Seanglai are the winners. They all live and work in
New York. On May 22nd - at the New York office of YKK of America - they
presented their project and also received $2,000 (per person) in order
to help them with their collection expenses. (Flight and accommodations
will be also covered).

Stephanie
Otto inspired by Surrealism Art

They
are no strangers to the Arts of Fashion as Akarasun Seanglai was one of
the 10 selected students to represent the United States in the former
Concours International des Jeunes Createurs de Mode in 2003 in Paris,
Stephanie Otto won the Arts of Fashion Competition 2004 at Oklahoma State
University and Natallia Pilipenka is the recipient of the Anne-Valerie
Hash Award 07 for the Arts of Fashion international competition 07 in
Miami!

Akarasun
Seanglai inspired by the indigo color of the Jeans

Congratulations
to them all! Their projects reflect all their creativity and talent! Rendez-vous
on the Arts of Fashion Runway on Oct 28-29, 2008 to discover their very
first collections! www.ykkamerica.com

The
Arts of Fashion Foundation is a 501(c) (3), public, non-profit organization,
linking both academics and professionals alike and is dedicated in fostering
international cultural exchange through the creation of a variety of educational
events meant to facilitate critical thinking among artists, designers,
scholars and students. The primary focus of the foundation is the continuous
support of creativity and design in fashion and the arts linked to it